Study also showed improving readiness for all U.S. emergency departments is cost-effective<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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MONDAY, Oct. 28, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Implementing high pediatric readiness for all U.S. emergency departments is highly cost-effective and would lower mortality among young patients, according to a study published in the October issue of Health Affairs<\/em>.<\/p>\n Christopher Weyant, Ph.D., from Stanford University in California, and colleagues conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis of increasing emergency department pediatric readiness, using a decision-analytic simulation model. Clinical and cost data were pulled from 7.9 million children receiving emergency services at 747 emergency departments in 11 states.<\/p>\n The researchers found that increasing emergency department pediatric readiness would cut deaths among young patients seeking emergency care by 42 percent, yielding 69,100 quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) for the 11-state cohort. This translated to a cost of $9,300 per QALY gained or $244,000 per life saved. Nationally, achieving high readiness would yield about 194,000 additional discounted life-years and 179,000 additional discounted QALYs. Up-front implementation costs would be approximately $260 million.<\/p>\n “Delivering appropriate, timely care to kids with injuries or acute illnesses can make the difference between complete recovery and many years of disability or childhood death,” senior author Jeremy Goldhaber-Fiebert, Ph.D., also from Stanford University, said in a statement. “We found that the cost of being ready was well below the threshold that people think of as ‘value for money’ in health care.”<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n